• by Tanya Gazdik , 2 hours ago

If you’ve ever wondered where airline blankets and other cabin amenities end up after they are used, here’s the answer, at least for JetBlue. 

As part of the airline’s refreshing of its Mint program, gently and unused retiring products will receive a second life via a donation to shelters, soup kitchens and other service organizations. By donating instead of disposing, the airline is also diverting waste from landfills.   

The plan helps put into action both the airline’s focus on sustainability and its JetBlue For Good platform.

JetBlue is providing supplies to a variety of organizations and agencies including the City of New York and its Department of Social Services; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Broward County, Fla.; United Way of Broward County in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Tacoma Rescue Mission in Seattle; Long Beach Rescue Mission in Los Angeles County, Calif., and local soup kitchens in Boston.

The airline is also providing unused amenity kits and toiletries to homeless shelters, and headphones to some of the JetBlue Foundation’s education partners to assist students in virtual learning.

Additionally, dishware and cutlery will be donated to local soup kitchens through partnerships with the United Way of Broward County in Florida and local soup kitchens in Boston, among other organizations throughout JetBlue’s network, while headphones will be donated on behalf of the JetBlue Foundation to its education partners and grantees who will use them for virtual school and programming.

JetBlue’s donation of blankets, pillows and amenity kits to the City of New York and its Department of Social Services were coordinated through a collaboration with the Partnership for New York City -- a nonprofit organization dedicated to the betterment of the city through its work with civic, business, labor and government leaders -- will go directly to local shelters. 

This fall, JetBlue’s CEO Robin Hayes signed a pledge along with other business leaders across industries making a commitment to the city and asking the current administration to take on public safety and other quality of life issues that jeopardize economic recovery.

This isn’t the first time the airline has upcycled. As part of its uniform refresh in 2014, JetBlue donated more than 18.5 tons of uniforms, clothing and fabric to several non-profit partners including Planet Aid, a non-profit organization that collects and recycles worn clothing and shoes.